Eli Lake, Columnist

Afghans Will No Longer Choose Their Own Government

Biden’s explanation for the U.S. withdrawal rests on a false premise.

July 8, 2021 at 10:21 PM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

The president explains the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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As the Taliban marched through Afghan provinces Thursday and many of the country’s soldiers made way, U.S. President Joe Biden restated his case for unilaterally ending America’s longest war. His argument boils down to an acknowledgement that a U.S. mission to uphold the central government in Kabul is a fool’s errand. “No nation has ever unified Afghanistan, no nation,” he said. So what would be the point of staying another year or decade to fight for a government that will never be able to rule a deeply divided nation?

In an America recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and in need of investments in its own infrastructure, this thinking holds some appeal. Majorities of Americans want more nation-building at home.